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May 22, 2016 Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI
Setlist: Travelin' Band, Green River, Born on the Bayou, Who'll Stop the Rain, Lookin' Out My Back Door, Hot Rod Heart, Ramble Tamble, The Midnight Special, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Joy of My Life, Mystic Highway, Lodi, New Orleans, Keep On Chooglin', Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Down on the Corner, Centerfield, The Old Man Down the Road, Fortunate Son, Bad Moon Rising, Proud Mary. OTTAWA CITIZEN review by Peter Robb 10/7/2016 He'll stop the rain: Fogerty conjures up Woodstock on a golden Bluesfest evening Welcome to 1969. Time travel courtesy of John Fogerty, the heart and soul of one of the most popular bands — albeit briefly — of that era, Creedence Clearwater Revival. Even though they came from California, CCR parlayed Southern rock songs about bayous and the Big Muddy into record sales that now top 26 million. In 1969 they had three top 10 albums — Bayou Country, Green River and Willie and the Poor Boys — and four hit singles. There wasn’t much fancy about a CCR hit. Simple, homespun lyrics, a great beat and flashy guitar work and vocals from John Fogerty was their recipe for success. When the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the citation credited CCR with defining the words “roots rock,” and for being “the standard-bearers and foremost celebrants of homegrown American music.” Creedence Clearwater Revival packed a lot of success from the late 1960s into the early 1970s, but by late 1972 they had broken up in acrimony over money and control over the music the band produced. Fogerty has been in a long running feud with his former bandmates and even fought and won a protracted legal battle with his former manager, who accused Fogerty of copying one of his own songs. But that was then. Today Fogerty is clearly comfortable in his own skin and, decked out in a trademark blue plaid flannel shirt, he put the tape of CCR hits into the ol’ eight track and warmed up a nostalgic crowd enjoying a mild evening under a bright half-moon at Bluesfest Sunday night. Fogerty has totally reclaimed the music of his past in concert. And so, on Sunday night it was all CCR almost all the time. The session opened with a rockin’ quartet of CCR hits starting with a sizzling Travelin’ Band. That was followed in succession by Green River, Born on the Bayou and Who’ll Stop the Rain. Just before he started the latter tune, Fogety talked about appearing at Woodstock after the Grateful Dead. The Dead were so wasted their show dragged on into the early morning hours and the entire crowd was asleep when CCR took the stage … except one guy. CCR played their set for him. After the festival, on the way home, Fogerty wrote Who’ll Stop The Rain. Fogerty’s rough-hewn tenor is still strong and is perfectly suited to the music he sings. His guitar skills are just getting better with age and lots and lots of practice. A nice part of the evening was a duet with his son Shane, who is the rhythm guitarist in the top-notch band that travels with Fogerty these days. He did play non-CCR tunes, including his best known solo song, Centerfield, Fogerty’s ode to baseball. But he was quickly back to CCR’s hits, closing with Fortunate Son, Bad Moon Rising and Proud Mary. For the crowd at Bluesfest, the enduring power of CCR songs remains as infectious and crowd-pleasing as when they were dominating the airwaves more than 45 years ago.